Lucas Duda on Fire

If you are a regular reader of this site (why, exactly?!), then you know I am not a huge fan of Lucas Duda. But he is on fire and is slowly making a believer out of me.

Lucas Duda hits first of two homers Wednesday against Phillies.

Duda leads the team with eight home runs and a .305 batting average. The last number is actually more impressive; there was never any secret that Duda had power. But hitting for average makes him a more complete player.

Duda is actually hitting lefties better than righties — ..383 to .275. Now, Duda has a third of the number of at bats against lefties as opposed to righties, but for a guy whose career batting average against southpaws is .230, this is a huge step forward.

Hitting with runners is scoring position was also a problem for Lucas Duda. For his career that number is a poor .249. This season he is at .321.

Duda just looks more confident at the plate. It cannot be a coincidence that the Mets offense perked up in the Phillies sweep while Duda went 5-10 with three home runs. Perhaps Lucas Duda can be the spark that ignites the lineup for the rest of the season. Who knew?